40 Minutes In The Old Testament - Isaiah 48:17-49:9 (Episode 490)

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

The Lord is a God whose teaching is profitable and who leads you to good places. God will have a people and will go to the coastland and rocks to do it. And it's better to bow than to be made to bow. Have a listen. Show Notes: Support 1517 Podcast Network 1517 Podcasts 1517 on Youtube 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts 1517 Events Schedule 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education What's New from 1517: Coming Home for Christmas: 1517 Advent Devotional Face to Face: A Novel of the Reformation by Amy Mantravadi Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of Psalms by Chad Bird Remembering Your Baptism: A 40-Day Devotional by Kathryn Morales Sinner Saint by Luke Kjolhaug More from the hosts: Daniel Emery Price Chad Bird

Welcome to another episode of 40 Minutes in the Old Testament. 40 Minutes in the Old Testament is a 1517 Podcast Network podcast. You can go to 1517.org slash podcast and check out all the other podcasts that are living over there. and while you're over there, make sure you check out everything else that 1517 is doing. Articles, events, academies, Bible in a Year.

Hey, you know, Chad, this year is coming down. It's coming to an end. We'd be like, dang it, I was going to read the Bible in a year with Chad Bird. Another opportunity cometh your way, my friends.

A new year, a new chance to do the Bible in one year with Chad Bird. So keep an eye out for signing up for that. I'm sure Chad will be saying something about it, you know, on his various social media platforms or 1517 will be saying stuff about it on theirs or just go over to the site, find it, sign up for it. You want to be part of the Bible in one year, do that in 2026. It's a good time. This is called the blended plan, which if you're listening to this podcast, obviously you have some interest in the Old Testament and its connection to the

New Testament. So one of the beautiful things about the blended plan is it combines Old Testament and new testament readings and often it'll do this in a way that you see how they dovetail for instance when we read leviticus we're reading hebrews oh it's a beautiful pairing right and it often will do that so it really helps to see the connections between old testament new testament it's only about i think two to four chapters a day i mean you can do it easily in 10 minutes so love to love to have you join us on january 1st yeah there you go there's the pitch so do that. There's probably a link for it in the show notes. If there's not, I'll make sure there is. How about that? There'll be a link in that show notes. I'll put it in there. All right. We are,

speaking of the Old Testament and the Bible, we are in that. We are in chapter 48 of Isaiah. We got through the first 16 verses. You know, God is going to be talking about Israel getting refined. He's going to talk about, you know, we talked about His glory, that He, for His own namesake, has deferred his anger. He's restrained it because he doesn't want to cut these people off. That implies that I've got all the reason in the world to be angry and cut you off. I'm going to not do that. Not because you're great, but because I'm great, and I made some promises over here. And then he tells Israel exactly what he's going to do. He's going to want them to assemble. He wants them to draw near and hear the things that he has spoken. He's got things that he's told them

that have come to pass, and because of that, they should believe him on the things that he's spoken that maybe haven't yet come to pass. He's like, hey, have I ever been wrong? No? Okay, you should keep on believing, as they say. Yeah, which leads us to Isaiah 48, 17, where God once more introduces himself as their next of kin here's their their redeemer and we have more of these more this kind of language of kind of divine exasperation i suppose is one way to one way to describe it we hear this multiple times in the old testament a new testament where god this kind of does a face palm and he's like man you guys if you would just listen to me then your life would be so much better so we're going to hear that in in verse 18 so let me read 17 through through 19 and then

we'll just have one short section before we wrap up this chapter thus says the lord your redeemer the holy one of israel i am the lord your god who teaches you to profit who leads you in the way you should go oh that you had paid attention to my commandments then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains. Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me. We've talked about this before, Dan, but I always think of Jesus' lament over Jerusalem. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would that you have known. But it's not just there. I mean, it is all over the Old Testament as well, where this divine exasperation, maybe that's even not the best word for it, because that implies just frustration.

This is more like heartbrokenness, like, man, if you had just, this, I mean, this is, this is a father's heart saying to his kids, I love you and I want what is best for you. If you would only do this, if you'd only go down this path instead of the one that you have so willfully and stubbornly chosen, then so many good things would happen. But, of course, you don't. Israel didn't. Yeah, I mean, this is how he does it, right? He's like, who am I? I'm the Lord your God. What do I do?

I teach you the prophet. That is like, you know, I teach you good things here. You're going to gain—if you listen to my teachings, you're going to what? You're going to gain from them. There's things to gain from hearing my words. And I'm going to lead you in the way that you should go. So this is very simple. I just need to listen and follow.

That's what we're going to do here. That's who I am. I'm the guy who does those things. And you know what would have been great? It would have been great if you'd have paid attention to any of that. But you didn't. So you kind of have this, who am I? I'm the Lord your God.

I would teach you how to be prosperous, my teaching is profitable, my directions are going to take you to good places. Who are you? You're the people who did not pay attention to any of that and therefore have no peace and have no righteousness. That's who you are. That's it. It is an interesting contrast. and there's uh there's this i mean obvious metaphorical reference to the fact that god's goodness is not stingy he said doesn't say if you would have listened to me i mean i would have made

your your peace like a little bitty trickling creek it's like yeah i had like a river of peace and your righteousness would have been like the waves of the sea so like limitless blessings that's what i want to give to you but you know that's not what you would that's not what you you did over and over you rebelled against me we have of course this language from from uh the book of genesis especially the promises he gave to the patriarchs about their offspring being like the sand of the sea that's what it's what would have happened your name would never been cut off or destroyed from before me so it's couched in these covenantal terms because of course this is what god does for israel he makes this covenant with them for them

He doesn't say, now, I want you guys to figure out what is pleasing to me. He actually teaches them this. He doesn't say, I want you to figure out a way you should walk. He leads them in the way that they should go. So there's nothing, as one of the Psalms puts it, what more could I have done for my people? I mean, was there something I inadvertently left out? No, of course not. I mean, I did everything.

I redeemed you. I taught you. I led you. but you went the other way. Well, and this is the way that this works, too, because what God is doing, He's like, look, man, I've got this promise. You see, it's about—it's like it's offspring like stars in sand.

That's what I've got, okay? And you guys are not into that promise with me because you're rejecting me, you're not listening to me. But here's the thing. That is the way it's going to be. The offspring thing is going to happen when I have all these descendants. And this, like, you fast forward all this, and you think, oh, well, can these people, through the hardening of the heart, can they just thwart this promise?

And maybe it won't be like the sand on the seashore. Maybe it won't be like the stars. No, that's why Jesus says things like, all right, somebody's going to praise me. If you don't do it, the rocks will do it. And by rocks, he just means Gentiles. and so uh that's how this works right uh the judge he's like hey man if you guys aren't gonna do this thing uh i'll get children other places so think about um the reason i say that is because um what is what is the the the biggest one of the biggest burns in the bible hey oh you think

because you're children of abraham god can say to these stones be children of abraham like i can make children of Abraham from rocks, Jesus is the one that always says, hey, I will do that, and those rocks will, in fact, declare my praise. And so he just sends the gospel out to everyone. And so God, at the end of the day, will have his way, whether you reject him or not. He's going to have a people. That's one of the beautiful things about the ways of God, yeah. try and thwart his way try and somehow defeat his purposes oh he will accomplish as well his purposes will will be done uh whether you are involved in that or like it or not it it will happen and we see that actually right here i mean the you would think with a with a beginning like

that that i just read the next verses would be some kind of i don't know further judgment or something like that, you know, because of this, I have rejected you for being my people, whatever it might be. No, he goes on to say that he's going to bring them back from exile. So despite the fact that you haven't listened to me, despite the fact you didn't go in the way that I led you, you ended up in Babylon. I'm still not going to leave you there. I'm going to bring you out. And that's what he says in verse 20 and 21. He says, go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy proclaim it send it out to the end of the earth say the lord has redeemed his servant jacob of course because we just heard that he is the redeemer right he's

redeemed his servant jacob and then we have in verse 21 this imagery of course from the book of exodus he says they did not thirst when he led them through the deserts he made water flow for them from the rock. He split the rock and the water gushed out. The implication being, hey, when you go out from Babylon, when you flee from Chaldea, when I'm bringing you home because of the work of Cyrus that Isaiah has talked about several times, then you're going to have this proclamation of liberation that's going to extend to the ends of the earth. He's going to once more provide in this Exodus kind of return when you come back from Babylon. Now, all this is great. all this is great news but listen to the way the chapter ends which is a the way this chapter ends

which is a very short verse verse 22 is then going to be the perfect segue into chapter 49 where we're going to hear about not how wonderful israel is but the work of the servant who will have to come because of what we're just about to hear and this is the close of the chapter verse 22. There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked. Now, the reason that is such a fitting conclusion to this promise is because what's God going to do? What's going to happen? God's going to send Cyrus. Cyrus is going to conquer the Babylonians, issue the edict saying, all right, you can go home. The people will go home. They'll come back. Only a remnant, only a small group is going to come under the first leaders, and then communities can be set up. But hey, we cover this

in the podcast. Read Ezra, read Nehemiah, read Haggai, read Zechariah, read these guys who are the leaders of the prophets of this group that returned to Babylon. And what do we have happening in this group? Well, you name it. I mean, we've got all kinds of rebellion happening among the the returnees so the wickedness is not solved by the return from exile it's just perpetuated yeah well it's almost like you say all this this stuff and then you say remember those those days of the exodus and uh yeah i've got i've provided that water and all that stuff and i'm gonna do i'm gonna use cyrus and you're not gonna like it but still i'm gonna use him anyway and the people We're like, and then, then we'll have peace.

And God's like, there is no peace. Not for the wicked, which you are. And so, yeah, this sets up 49 where you're like, so he doesn't bring about like the everlasting peace. Cyrus doesn't. No. And he's like, well, no, because you're wicked people. So, I mean, you wouldn't, you wouldn't know what to do with peace if you had it. You know, you just, you just mess it all up.

I'm going to have to bring in someone else for this job. So Cyrus is sort of this – I mean, of course he is – this sort of little messiah, little Christ, right? But you're going to need someone better than that to really get the job done. Yeah, that's why this is such a perfect setup. When you're reading through here, you're like, okay, so Cyrus, he's going to do some good, but there's a lot of good that must still be done, the ultimate good. And, of course, that's what we're going to hear about in chapter 49, where we have the second servant song. So we had the first one a few chapters back. Now we have the second one.

And it's going to start out by the servant himself talking. He's going to be the me that is referred to in the opening verse. And this was a little bit different than what we heard in the first one. There's going to be some frustration. You know, we just heard about the wickedness of the Israelites. Well, we're going to hear of some frustration because the Messiah, the servant, is going to talk about how, man, it's like I've labored for nothing. I'm out here exerting all my strength. I'm teaching, and it seems like it's for nothing and for vanity because he's being rejected by his own people.

So I'll read the first four verses. Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. the Lord called me from the womb and from the body of my mother. He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand. He hid me. He made me a polished arrow in his quiver. He hid me away. And he said to me, you are my servant Israel in whom I will be glorified but i said i have labored in vain i have spent my strength for nothing in vanity surely yet surely my right is with the lord and my recompense with my god now there's more to it but we'll we'll stop there just for a second so we start out here with as i said he's he's talking

so he's the me so you could put these words in uh in red if you're one of those uh red letter kind of kind of folks so this is this is just as red if you want to speak that way as the gospels so this is just jesus talking this is son of god has the servant who's talking here so listen to me okos lands and give attention you peoples from afar now that's important because right away, who is Jesus talking to? He's not even talking here necessarily to his own people. He's casting this universal look at the coastland, the peoples from afar. So right away, he's talking not just to the Israelites, but to the Gentiles. So listen to me, O Gentiles, give attention, all you Gentile peoples from as far off as you might be. My message isn't just

for the israelites my message is for you gotta gotta get i'm gonna i gotta get the sand of the seashore thing going so i've been talking to everybody yeah that's right yeah we got some sand on those coastlands so we're gonna we're gonna get that sand listing up and he starts out by referencing the fact that he started his mission he was called he was set aside from the womb, from the body of his mother. There's a very unmistakable reference throughout the Old Testament to the mother of the Messiah. And we heard this back in chapter seven, you hear it here, you hear it in other places as well, where this Messiah who's going to come is going to have a very definite, and we might say different kind of mother, which of course is exactly what the

gospels tell us but the focus upon his not just his is coming or not just his his birth but his time in the womb is something that is important for the old testament prophets and the reason it's important is because it's because well i guess it probably more than one reason but one reason is he comes as one of us so it wasn't like mary and joseph were already together and one day they just found this five-year-old walking around they adopted him they're like we're going to name you jesus and this is the beginning of the incarnation no it didn't work that way because none of us came into the world that way we came into the world from the womb jesus came to the world from the womb also so that he experienced everything that we experience so

that we are fully redeemed in every aspect of our lives so god called him from the womb from the body of my mother he named my name well how's that for the gospels right yeah yeah yeah i mean we have the name of jesus given while he's still in the body of uh of his mother yeah when gabriel shows up and she's like he's like all right here's what's gonna happen you know um gonna holy spirit's gonna come upon you you're going to be with child and then uh you know mary's like what should i name him he's like doesn't matter whatever you want but that is not how that story goes yeah that's great i don't know just whatever you like whatever you like what do you like i mean what's your family name you know you have a baby book uh the jerusalem baby

book well just page through that whatever you know whatever tickles your fancy gabriel does not have the what's in a name uh sort of uh thing going on he's like oh no there's definitely a name that you definitely need to name him yeah it's going to be all about salvation that's what we're going to name this this baby so uh yeah so we have the incarnation focused focused here and the fact that the incarnation from a very specific woman who lives in a very specific group of people so mary a virgin and israelite and yet that very particular focus is matched by the universal focused because he says all right listen up not just my fellow jews but o coastlands peoples from afar and then we have in verse 2 this image of weaponry which also is reflected of course in

in the gospels or especially in revelation he made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shot of his hand he hit me there's that uh i can't remember which chapter revelation that is but the the sword extending from the mouth of jesus i mean this is uh the the weaponry of the messiah who's which is pictured here as a mouth with like a sharp sword. And then we have the arrow. He's like a polished arrow hidden in the quiver of the Lord. So this is, I mean, the military weaponry as describing the ministry of the Messiah is something that is picked up on by the prophets quite a few times.

And it's reflected in various parts of the New Testament as well, especially with his preaching being like this sharpened sword by which he is able to pierce the division of soul and spirit as the book of Hebrews describes it. Yeah, one of the crazy things about this text is you have this, hey, I'm sort of a weapon or a tool in the hand of God, right? This is what I'm going to do. And then I go out there, and it seems like, you know, this is written to Jews, and there's a real sense, I'm sure, you know, if you end up hanging on a tree, you're like, hey, I think I may be labored in vain.

I've spent all my strength for nothing. Like, these people have, surprise, surprise, totally rejected me to the point of death, right? um that's that's how verse four kind of wraps this up and that's what it seems that is going on there yeah i did all these things and then i came to you uh and i was named in the womb and i was called and i was called there and all this stuff and uh i had a mission from god and i was his instrument and all for naught yeah yeah you can hear this frequently in the gospels uh sometimes it's with his own disciples, right? He's just frustrated with them. He's grieved over the fact that people will not listen to his message. So this isn't reflective of just one particular

episode. It's kind of the cumulative effect of his ministry where he's, I mean, one of his very closest disciples betrays him. He's invited to the home of the religious leadership, but he's really only there so they can spy on him and try and find some way to to use it against him so everywhere he turns uh every person with whom he interacts he is at risk of of attack of subterfuge being used against him so rejection follows rejection unless it's with the gentiles which is like one of the things you see in the gospel like whether it's like a syrophoenician woman or some centurion. And that's when Jesus has these moments where it almost is like, he's like, let me see this. You see this guy? You see this woman over here? Tell you what, man, I've been

looking for faith for a long time, like longer than you think. I mean, you think I've been looking for faith for like three years. I've been looking for faith for a long, long time. And I find it in this lady over here that's got a sick daughter, this centurion. That's why he does that thing to sort of contrast that to his disciples. Because it's a huge—I don't know if people read it that way—pretty big insult when a Roman's like, Hey, listen, man, I know what it's like to be a person with authority, and I think you just got to say the word. I get it. And he's like, man, I haven't seen that kind of faith in Israel.

You're like, oh, that's nice. That's not nice to the people of Israel listening. Yeah, it's like being a coach and you got this team of athletes. And you say, listen, I was just walking the streets the other day and I saw this pickup game. And I walked over there and these guys play worlds better than you. You're supposed to have this down. And they do. you don't so yeah you can understand why that would be uh uh such an insult to to the israelites

if you know yeah and just knowing that that's how that's how this goes is that i do think that that's why it starts with as you said like talking about the coastlands and the gentiles and stuff because yeah this is it there is a a rejection surprise uh like this rejection continues continues but god still is going to get what he has promised that he will have right yeah let me and then let me say one more word i i skipped this in verse three uh it's worth pointing out because this can be confusing to people he said to me that is the lord said to his servants so the father said to his son you are my servant israel and whom i will be glorified so who's being talked about here? Well, it cannot be the nation of Israel, because if you keep looking down

to verse five, this servant is going to bring Jacob back to God. He's going to gather Israel to God. So he's going to be their Redeemer, their Savior, their Deliverer, their Gatherer. So he can't be the very one that he's supposed to gather and deliver. the the savior can't be his own savior so the individual servant is referred to as israel and when you think about it this makes perfect sense because how did israel begin as one man this was jacob right jacob's name was changed to israel he's one individual then from this one individual israel the nation came forth and now we come full circle because once again you're going to have israel being one man it's going to be the messiah and he as the embodiment

of israel as the one man is going to then accomplish as israel what israel as a nation could never have done for herself because of her infidelity and disobedience so and in that way everything comes back to the one israelite who of course is going to be the messiah and through his work he will then bring all of those who are the true israel the true believers in the messiah back to back to the father yeah there's a it's a great thing that is um as you said like kind of goes back to the the beginning but is also completely opposite which is okay you can have one man so all of israel comes out of abraham okay uh with jesus you have israel reduced down to one man and all of israel has to come into him right so uh yeah as with abraham yes so you have

the seed and you're like yes all right like all abraham is the father of all all of israel well jesus does is is a similar thing where he's an individual but you got to get into him right you're not coming out of him you're going in and uh this is the better way and so yeah this is this is the the the israel that is the savior and by into him this can be jews gentiles whoever like he's like all is israel in me yes yes and that's why we were just talking about this or i was talking about this the other day with with some of my uh my fellow 15 17 folks that so the church didn't replace israel which sometimes people get that impression no israel continues It just grows and expands.

It's now universal, right? And it's no longer mainly Jews. It's Jews and Gentiles together. So who's Israel? Well, Israel is all those who are part of the body of Christ. All those who are believers, been brought back to him, as you were just saying, put into his body. So that all those who believe in Jesus the Messiah are part of this Israel, which has greatly expanded, enlarged. so that the dividing wall of hostility is broken down.

Jews and Gentiles are now joined together in this one vast worldwide Israel, which we simply refer to ordinarily as the church. Yeah, so somebody asked me this, and I knew what they were doing, so I was clever. I was wily. So I knew they were setting me up. And they said, so you believe that the church is the new Israel. And I knew what he was doing.

I knew what was the end game here, Chad. And I said, listen, man, I believe that Jesus has always been Israel. That's what I believe. That's what it is, man. You can play games with all this. They try to say, oh, that's the replacement this or whatever. What I'm telling you is that Israel has always been about Jesus from the jump. And I'm telling you that Israel is still about Jesus.

That's what I'm telling you. Yeah. Yeah, because that's exactly what the Old Testament tells us, right? Yeah. Yeah, Israel has always been focused upon the seed who is to come, who, of course, is Jesus. Yeah. So, yeah. That's what it's about.

Israel is all about him. Yeah, so if you want to be part of Israel, be part of him. That's it. And it's always been that way. Like, believe in him, be baptized into him. this is the this is the way it was for you know for abraham believe the promise bam part of israel what promise are you believing in the promise of this man jesus christ the savior of the world that's what you're that's what you're believing in yeah amen it's always been a faith it's always

been a faith thing in other words it's always been about yeah it's never been a uh yeah you know check your genealogy to make sure that you have the right family trees so that you're you're part of israel well yeah i i you could be an unbeliever you could reject him and your pedigree would still show that you're part of that family tree well who cares just like you said a few minutes ago from these rocks god can raise up children for abraham so uh you can throw your pedigree in the trash it means absolutely nothing to god i mean you could literally be the son of abraham like ishmael was who cares yeah it's not going to get you anywhere it's all about faith in the messiah or you could be a roman centurion wandering around jesus could be like man wasn't

expected to meet a roman israelite today but there i there was there he is here's he too he's a son of abraham yeah that's right all of us who are living by faith in jesus as the messiah are the sons and daughters of abraham yeah that's it it's not about pedigree it's about faith okay so the messiah is still the servant is still speaking and it's like he so he's just been he just uttered this this verse where he's like ah man it's like i've labored in vain spent my strength for nothing but then uh he's kind of takes a breath and uh here's what he says now He says, now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes

of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. So after that verse, where he's like, yeah, I've labored in vain, he's like, yeah, no, I have not, because I'm honored in God's eyes. He's my strength. He has called me on this mission to bring Jacob and Israel back to him. All right. Then he goes on. Verse six.

He says, so this is the Lord speaking to the servant. It's too light a thing. So the calling would be just too unimportant, too small. So it's too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of israel so i mean that's fine but that's not enough that's minor league stuff verse in the verse ends this way i will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach the end of the earth and i would i would translate that a little bit differently instead of that my salvation may reach the end of the earth that you may be my

salvation to the end of the earth so you're you oh servant are a light to the nations and you are the salvation god's salvation that reaches to the ends of the earth well i mean this is this is one of my favorite verses in isaiah really the the entire old testament to point to the worldwide mission of of of the messiah he was never just for the israelites uh he was always never for like for the israelites against the gentiles he's for the entire people because it was too small a thing for god simply to send him for one people group he's for the entire world well this is one of my uh go-to obscure texts for um universal atonement yeah um because uh yeah man because like god because what is god saying what's the father saying to the son here listen listen if

you're gonna go die we're not gonna do that for just a couple people if we're gonna if you're gonna if you're gonna do that like if you're gonna do something like that we're gonna we're gonna do for the whole world that that's what's being said here yeah yep no one no one excluded the salvation has been accomplished for all as in adam all die yep so to use the language of this verse so in christ god's salvation reaches to the ends of the earth yeah he's not gonna go and and do the redemptive work for some select people like he's going to redeem the world yeah because all the world needs redeeming yeah and that's what he was that's the mission he was sent yep okay this little section ends with our next verse which is seven thus says the lord the

redeemer of Israel and his Holy one to one deeply despised. He's talking about the servant to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers. So this is what he says to the Messiah who's characterized in all these ways. He's despised. He's abhorred. He's the servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. So he's going to be a servant of rulers, but he's going to be the one to whom kings and princes prostrate themselves. So it's a beautiful switch here. It's kind of the, you know, the first last shall be first going on here. He's the one who humbled himself, became obedient, even to the point of death,

death on a cross. And he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He was this servant. And yet he's the one now to whom kings and princes bow down because they recognize in him the fact that he isn't the king of kings and the Lord of lords. But then you have the other side of that too, that he is deeply despised, abhorred by the nation. He's not going to be celebrated and welcomed, but as, well, a few more chapters from now, we'll say he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and one from whom men hide their faces. So you get the definite theme of rejection, not just in this verse, but in that previous verse. At the same time, you have the theme of his salvation victory, which he's going to accomplish, and the effects of that victory as it reaches to the ends of the earth.

Yeah, you get this real picture of, here is this deeply despised, abhorred Redeemer. So you can believe or reject, but you're going to bow either way. that's all those knees will bend eventually that's that's what it is like i know he's hard to look at deeply despised of horde is this i don't know if this is a good a good the kind of savior you want well it's like well you can have him or you can reject him but at the end of it everyone's bound so i recommend the believing thing i recommend that one yeah believing and Kneeling is much better than not believing and being forced to kneel. You can bow or you can be made to bow.

It's up to you. But you will bow one way or the other. Yeah. All right. We got a little bit of time. I guess we can dip our toe into this next section for just a minute. This next verse is actually great because of the way it describes him. Thus says the Lord, in a time of favor, I have answered you.

In a day of salvation, I have helped you. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, come out, and to those who are in darkness, appear. And I'll just stop there. That's about halfway through verse 9. So this continues God's address to the servant, how he's going to help him and answer him and keep him and give him to be a what? a covenant to the people. So we hear about the new covenant, of course, prophesied in Jeremiah. Ezekiel has his own way of talking about the new covenant, the new covenant which, of course, Jesus refers to on the night in which he's betrayed, the new covenant that the book of

Hebrews speaks about. So this covenant is really a person. It's not a piece of paper. a covenant is the Messiah himself so he's going to be the covenant he's going to be God's covenant with the people and because of that of course this covenant cannot be broken because he is the covenant he's the one who's going to make sure that it stands and he's not going to issue this covenant asking something from the people okay I'm going to do my part now you need to do your part no he's the covenant he's it so because of that this new covenant will stand because it is founded entirely upon his work and not upon any participation for the beneficiaries of that covenant yeah and and the good news is is uh you know if you're a

prisoner or wander around the darkness you are exactly the kind of person he's coming for that's that's you're the one uh which is good news good news the chains will fall the doors to fly open and liberation is yours in the covenant messiah yeah that's good stuff we're out of time that's it man we are out of time uh we'll pick it up again next episode you got more to say about this exact thing so uh join us for that sign up for that bible in one year for next year you know you like the bite you made it to the end of the podcast if you're still listening i mean the bible in one year is for you that's what i know uh you just listen to 40 minutes straight of one chapter, you can do this. So sign up for that. Chad, I will see you next episode.

All right. See you then.